KEVIN YOUNG, DIRECTOR
60822 Creek Road
Niles, MI 49120
269-684-3870
kevin60822@sbcglobal.net
JULY/AUGUST 2023 GRANGE NEWS
Wow it’s July!? The first 6 months of 2023 have gone by way too fast! I hope everyone that planted a garden kept in mind the Agriculture Department classes for the 2023 State Session. I really hope to have a good number of entries in my Department again this year as there were a better number of entries at the 2022 Session.
We are a few short months now from our 2023 State Session that is being held at the Lenawee County Fairgrounds in Adrian. It will be a great time celebrating yet again the 150th of the Michigan State Grange.
Fair season is back in full swing again. In just two short months the Berrien County Youth Fair while be coming to a close, as it starts on August 14th. I have 2 pigs and a market goat along with 2 Boer Does in the back yard for my niece. Please go support our local youth by attending a Fair near you. There are plenty of things to see besides the amusement rides and fair food if that isn’t something you care to do. I remember when I was an exhibitor how it felt to have everyone walk by looking at my animals or still exhibits. It is their time to shine for all of their hard work during the summer months (or winter too) leading up to entry day.
I can’t wait!! I am finally getting our chicken coop added on to this summer. My oldest nephew he works in construction is going to help my dad (his grandpa) build an 8x8 addition to our current 8x8 coop. Of course that means more space to clean out twice a year but it will give us lots more room especially in the winter months for when they are locking in the coop and can’t get out in their run. I am hoping to have a small area that I can close off in case of an injury or sick bird, or to use as a “young pen” to house new pullets before placing with the adult birds. It will be so nice when it is complete and my nephew can’t wait to get building with Grandpa.
I don’t know about your area but boy has it been very dry around my parts of Michigan. I have watered the garden I think every night since it was planted Memorial Day weekend. Let’s hope we get some rain because not only do our gardens need it, but the farmers need it especially those that do not have irrigation in their fields.
Remember one class that anyone can enter is the class labeled: Any planting in a Unique container. It can be any type of container, but the planting must have grown in the unique container. Keep in mind that you must be able to transport this item to State Session and be able to bring it from your vehicle with little assistance.
Here is hoping your gardens are growing or will be and that your harvest is bountiful. Until the next MGN….
AGRICULTURE
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 GRANGE NEWS
Wow! August is just about over as I write this article and another County Fair season is just about over for my area. The weather is up and down with temperatures and humidity, but it wouldn’t be summer and fair season without that type of weather! The Berrien County Youth Fair just finished on Aug 19th and we had almost perfect weather, besides 2 days that had some rain. But once it stopped raining, it was great, and the people flocked to the grounds. There are only a few more fairs left in Michigan now with one of them being the St. Joseph County Grange Fair in Centreville and I believe the last one in Michigan being the Hillsdale County Fair.
We got our garden in around Memorial Day weekend this year, planting zucchini, tomatoes and a few jalapeno peppers. We had to put butternut squash in be seeds as we couldn’t find anyone that had plants in our area. I am hoping we will have a few squash to enter in the Ag Department classes. We had a volunteer Sunflower grow on the edge of the garden, so we will have to see if any of the heads will be able to hold on until State Session in October. We also have seen a few volunteer potato plants as well. Maybe we will have some potatoes to enter as well. I hope others have had better luck and will have lots of items to enter in this year’s classes. If there is a class suggestion for the 2024 State Session that you would like to share with me, please do. I am always up for making changes if it works with when our State Session is held.
As we move into the harvest season, please keep in mind that we will once again be sharing the roads with very large sized farm equipment. I know we are all in a hurry to get where we are going but we need to keep in mind that those big pieces of equipment help to put food on our families’ tables.
I look forward to seeing everyone that will be coming to the Michigan State Grange Convention that is being held in late October at the Lenawee County Fairgrounds in Adrian. I hope everyone has been working on entries for the Departments so we have a great Grange Contest year!
See you at State Session!!
